Nevada Kills Funds for Problem Gambling

[RandySF]

A problem gambler and an eleven-year-old severely autistic girl walk into a bar. This is rich stuff. You'll already know the material if you've been following Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval's steps toward killing state funding for problem-gambling treatment. Those steps, and the rhetoric surrounding them, underscore something remarkable: in the world's gambling capital, the casino industry's number-one by-product is regarded as a nasty little joke.

Sandoval, for now, has merely proposed cutting in half what the state spends on problem gambling. But the resulting amount -- less than $750,000 -- is close to the zero that was earmarked in the not-so-distant past (pre-2005), especially as a percentage of the $800 million Nevada collects in taxes from casinos. At one-eighth of what Oregon spends on the identical problem, the reduced figure leaves Nevada trailing other states (including New York, which, with nothing but a handful of tribal casinos, devotes $4.3 million each year).

Endorsing the reduction, State Senator Ben Kieckhefer has noted that funding for autism treatment is also facing cuts. He views the latter cause as eminently worthier. "If I see a problem gambler and an eleven-year-old severely autistic girl sitting next to each other, I know which one I'm going to choose," he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-axelrad/nevada-kills-funds-for-pr_b_831550.html